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Welcome back, "Blue America"

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 05:42:14 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: It's exciting witnessing the history... The eight-year-long nightmare is over at last.

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

Barack Hussein Obama was elected the 44th president of the United States on Tuesday, sweeping away the last racial barrier in American politics with ease as the country chose him as its first black chief executive.

Mr. Obama’s election amounted to a national catharsis — a repudiation of a historically unpopular Republican president and his economic and foreign policies, and an embrace of Mr. Obama’s call for a change in the direction and the tone of the country. But it was just as much a strikingly symbolic moment in the evolution of the nation’s fraught racial history, a breakthrough that would have seemed unthinkable just two years ago.

Tags: barack obama, elections, united states

President Barack Hussein Obama - Reality feels like a dream

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 07:19:18 GMT

clipped by: zizzy
clipper's remarks: I am laughing with joy and crying. I've cried so much, even during McCain's speech. Another dream fulfilled - the dream since I was eight years old. I wish my mother was alive. She ran away from the Jim Crow south shortly after her first cousin, my cousin, a man named Huey was tortured and lynched. Thanks everyone who helped make this dream come true. I love you all.

Clip Source: en.wikipedia.org

44th President of the United States
Elect

Taking office
January 20, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden

Succeeding George W. Bush

Clip Source: www.barackobama.com

Barack Obama

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 17:35:18 GMT

clipped by: JohnWaterman
clipper's remarks: ... in pictures from the Boston Globe.

Absolutely everyone I have spoken to here in the UK is delighted with this great result for the US and the rest of us too.

Clip Source: www.boston.com

Portland, Oregon, Sunday, May 18

September 29

reflected in a teleprompter as he speaks at a campaign rally in Philadelphia, October 11

Obama Gives Victory Speech: Hundreds of Thousands in Chicago

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:47:13 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: Awesome...

Frigging awesome.

(I guess it can be found on YouTube tomorrow)

Black leaders from the Civil Rights struggle days of Martin Luther King have been on TV. They all say the same thing: They never thought they would live to see such a day.

And with pride say that now their children can see pictures of a black family in the White House.

And this is all they wanted, every wanted: equality, full participation in America, to see their story as fully integrated and seen as part of the American story.

And then, these old hardened men, they cry.

Clip Source: ap.google.com

Obama wins, first black to gain White House

A huge crowd thronged Grant Park in Chicago to cheer Obama's improbable triumph and await his first public speech as president-elect.

Tags: obama, blacks

Republican Party in Shambles After Massive Losses.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:38:05 GMT

clipped by: citizenbfk
clipper's remarks: Along with Obama's LANDSLIDE VICTORY, great gains have been won by the Democrats in both the House and Senate -- the greatest gains in over 80 years (since the Great Depression & FDR's election).

The Democrats now have a large majority in both the House and the Senate and the White House.

It's a sea change.

(Note: Because it's part of the story > Some Republican SmearHeads have started to tell the TV audience what Obama should do -- and said that within a few months the Democrats will be fighting among themselves)

Other TV pundits told these Republicans they should wake up and smell the coffee, look to see what they could possibly do to put their broken party back together -- that Obama didn't need their advise and there were no difference between the Democratic House, the Democratic Senate and future President Obama.

SmearHeads - Yuck.

LANDSLIDE VICTORY -- That's the real story: major epic awesome historic victory.

(I hate to even mention the SmearHeads words.,, b

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Impact of Democrats' gains in Congress

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A more robust Democratic majority will control the U.S. Congress in January, boosting the party's chances for passing bills to stimulate the economy, repealing some of President George W. Bush's tax cuts for the rich and setting timetables for withdrawing troops from Iraq.

Tags: election, house, senate

Why we stand in line to vote - a historical photo essay

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 00:08:16 GMT

clipped by: Lexica
clipper's remarks:

Over the last few days when looking at the photographs of people standing in line at early voting sites across the country, I've been reminded of so many pictures I've seen of election lines before - lines of voters from throughout the world, voters who have had to fight for the fundamental right to vote, voters for whom standing in line is perhaps the easiest part of everything they've had to do to bring about change.
…
So when I think about whether we'll have to wait in long lines on Tuesday, I'm not intimidated. I know that we won't be standing in those lines alone, we'll be accompanied by the history of millions of people a whole lot braver and tougher than we'll ever need to be to stay in line for a few hours.

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

people in Soweto lined up to vote in South Africa's first post-apartheid election

1990, when the people of Burma shocked the military government by showing up en masse

Nepal earlier this year, elections that ushered in the first democratically elected sovereign government

Chile

Pinochet tried to arrange a window-dressing referendum

shocked when 56% of the voters were brave enough to vote "NO"

voters in Sierra Leone, reclaiming their country after the ugly civil wars

Sierra Leone, where thousands of citizens were maimed by the armies that terrorised the country

Liberia

Guatemala

After the government of Ukraine stole the 2004 election, the people of the country rose up in the "Orange Revolution"

East Timor

brave people in Harare, Zimbabwe

risking their lives to vote for the opposition

the "Velvet Revolution" in Czechoslovakia

Haiti

let's not forget the courage it took Iraqis to come out and vote under the threat of political and sectarian violence

never forget the battles for the right to vote

Tags: history, photos, politics, elections

So Little Time; So Much Damage

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 12:38:31 GMT

clipped by: debbyski

Clip Source: www.nytimes.com

While Americans eagerly vote for the next president, here’s a sobering reminder: As of Tuesday, George W. Bush still has 77 days left in the White House — and he’s not wasting a minute.

President Bush’s aides have been scrambling to change rules and regulations on the environment, civil liberties and abortion rights, among others — few for the good. Most presidents put on a last-minute policy stamp, but in Mr. Bush’s case it is more like a wrecking ball. We fear it could take months, or years, for the next president to identify and then undo all of the damage.

CIVIL LIBERTIES We don’t know all of the ways that the administration has violated Americans’ rights in the name of fighting terrorism.

THE ENVIRONMENT The administration has been especially busy weakening regulations that promote clean air and clean water and protect endangered species.

Wouldn't It Be Nice? For those who gave their lives for this day.

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 14:18:17 GMT

clipped by: ratilfar

Clip Source: www.juancole.com

Wouldn't it be nice if Jack, Martin, Bobby, Cesar and Patsy could have been around to see it?

Tags: usa, us, elections, freedin, equality, all men are created equal

BARACK OBAMA WINS THE PRESIDENCY

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 04:12:18 GMT

clipped by: infopunk

Clip Source: www.nypost.com

BARACK OBAMA WINS THE PRESIDENCY

Barack Obama scored a barrier-breaking victory tonight to become the first black president of the United States - capping a 22-month quest that tapped into a national hunger for "hope" and "change."

At age 47 and still serving his first Senate term, the Democrat cleared a historic hurdle that seemed insurmountable just a few years ago - and was bolstered by Democrats padding their majority in Congress.

Obama held blue-tilting Pennsylvania and its 21 electoral votes by large margins, despite a massive effort by GOP Sen. John McCain to try to score a win there to shore up his faltering numbers elsewhere.

Several experts said the turnout was on pace to break the 1968 record of 61.9 percent - and in states like Connecticut, officials said it was set to top 90 percent.

Roughly 187 million people were registered to vote, and, thanks to early voting in more than 30 states, some 40 million had already cast ballots before yesterday.

Tags: obama, president, election

Newspaper front pages shout the Obama win

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 18:45:04 GMT

clipped by: masbury
clipper's remarks: Front page shots

Clip Source: www.dailykos.com

Tags: media, obama, newspaper front pages

Obama moves to brink of historic win

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 03:50:57 GMT

clipped by: invictus
clipper's remarks: Congrats go to all my American friends...

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Barack Obama moved to the brink of becoming the first black U.S. president on Tuesday with a breakthrough win in Ohio, leaving Republican John McCain fighting for his political life.

Tags: elections, united states, barack obama, democrats

The mycodiesel

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:43:47 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Fungi are forever..

Clip Source: www.guardian.co.uk

Scientists discover Patagonian diesel that grows on trees

The 'myco-diesel' fungus Gliocladium roseum, which grows inside the ulmo tree in northern Patagonia

A tree fungus could provide green fuel that can be pumped directly into vehicle tanks

The organism, found in the Patagonian rainforest, naturally produces a mixture of chemicals that is remarkably similar to diesel.

Many simple organisms, such as algae, are known to make chemicals that are similar to the hydrocarbons

none produce the explosive high energy density found in this fungus

the chemical mixture produced could be used in a modern diesel engine without any modification

Another advantage of the fungus is its ability to eat up cellulose, the compound that makes up much of the organic waste that is currently discarded

The fungus, called Gliocladium roseum and discovered growing inside the ulmo tree

produces a range of hydrocarbon molecules that are virtually identical to the fuel-grade compounds in existing fossil fuels

"mycodiesel",

Tags: green energy

Invention: Self-replicating materials

Wed, 05 Nov 2008 09:24:17 GMT

clipped by: balthazarus
clipper's remarks: Experiments on colloids have proved that self-replication is possible, they say. By tagging colloid particles with a range of DNA coatings that fluoresce at different wavelengths, they were able to see how a mixture gradually turned into a collection of ordered lines of particles after a self-replicating "seed" structure was added."

This ir really a potential breakthrough! slowly science fiction looses its fiction part

Clip Source: technology.newscientist.com

Invention: Self-replicating materials

While nature teems with organisms that readily reproduce, no one has yet succeeded in making an artificial material that can repeatedly copy itself

change all that using micrometre-scale particles that, when in solution, self-organise into units able to reproduce

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

The nanoscale map sketches the Americas at one 200-trillionth of their actual size

Clip Source: technology.newscientist.com

Their idea, described in a new patent application, is based on the fact that sequences of DNA can be designed to recognise and bond with each other. By carefully designing these sequences, it is possible to build structures from them – for example, microscopic relief maps of the Americas.

can be used to build with micrometre-sized particles of plastic, glass or metal, by coating them with DNA.

assemble themselves into complex objects.

These assemblies can in turn self-replicate by corralling other DNA-tagged particles into more versions of the same thing.

Clip Source: www.newscientist.com

'DNA origami'

Clip Source: technology.newscientist.com

produce entirely new materials

Tags: science, material, replication, patent

Obama: "Brothers Should Pull Up Their Pants"

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 00:10:08 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Barack Obama sat down for an interview with MTV's Sway that aired today, and one of the questions he was asked concerned a ban on sagging pants.

"Do feel like people should be penalized?" Sway asked.

"Here is my attitude: I think people passing a law against people wearing sagging pants is a waste of time," Obama responded. "We should be focused on creating jobs, improving our schools, health care, dealing with the war in Iraq, and anybody, any public official, that is worrying about sagging pants probably needs to spend some time focusing on real problems out there. Having said that, brothers should pull up their pants."

He continued: "You are walking by your mother, your grandmother, your underwear is showing. What's wrong with that? Come on. There are some issues that we face, that you don't have to pass a law, but that doesn't mean folks can't have some sense and some respect for other people and, you know, some people might not want to see your underwear — I'm one of them."

Tags: obama, fashion, law